International tourist arrivals in Asia and the Pacific 2010-2018, by region Published by Statista Research Department, Jan 15, 2020 Journeys to Asia are on the rise in recent years. For 2018, a total of 347.7 million international tourists were estimated to arrive in an Asian country. Most of them in the North-East region with about 169 million arrivals.     International tourism  According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), about 16 percent of the world's population, or 1.2 billion tourists took a trip. The most popular destination for tourists is Europe with 670 million visitors or nearly 50 percent, followed by Asia-Pacific, North America and the Middle East. Tourism of city trips are booming. In the past few years, the number of visitors to the most visited cities in the world has increased steadily.   Tourism in Asia  The growth of tourist flows has been dramatic, especially in Asia. The most popular cities in 2017 with overnight visitors include many Asian cities in the top 20 : Bangkok (Thailand) ranked first, followed by Singapore, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Tokyo (Japan) and Seoul (Korea). This is primarily from neighbors visiting the other.  Read more International tourist arrivals in Asia and the Pacific from 2010 to 2018